CHICAGO’S AON CENTER EXTERNAL ELEVATOR UPDATE

Solomon Cordwell Buenz, designing Chicago’s Aon Center 1,000-ft.-long panoramic-elevator tourist attraction to its 82nd and 83rd floors, recently released updates. Now calling it “the tallest elevator of its kind in North America,” the US$185-million addition will see a double-decker elevator enclosed in a glass shaft attached at every fourth floor at the northwest corner of the building. Traveling 1,000 feet in only 60 s., it is expected to generate US$30 million annually. Construction is now to start in the spring, and completion has been pushed back to 2021. Other project members include The Hettema Group, Legends Hospitality, MKA and Cosentini Associates.